Card index



2'. sh -Sheet 1 mm 6/ hi QM. m m W 111 m m m 2 f .i 3 Emma ===E c. w. SHERMAN Oct. 31, 1939. c. w. SHERMAN mm mnmx Filed Oct. 7, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Oct. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFiCE CARD INDEX Charles W. Sherman, Boston, Mass, assignor to Remington Rand Inc., Buffalo, N. Y.

character where the cards usually stand on edge in a drawer and are indexed by guide cards having tabs or other suitable means for containing indexing characters that are visible above the top edges of the card.

The invention comprehends the provision of a suitable means for detachably connecting adjacent cards to one another to form groups of connected cards in which the connecting means provides for relative edgewisemovement of the cards to oifset one margin of each card in the series in visible indexed relation.

The invention provides a series of cards, each 15. provided with a pair of projections, and a pair of slots arranged to receive the projections on an adjacent card for slidable interfitting engagement, so that each interconnected card may be offset relative to its adjacent card to arrange the margins of all connected cards in visible indexed relation. This offsetting of the cards may be obtained by manually manipulating an end card so as to move it edgewise with respect to the other cards in the connected series until the limit of relative sliding movement has been reached, whereupon sufiicient movement of the end card will offset all of the connected cards into visible indexed relation. The structure for providing a connection between each adjacent card may be in the form of a separate metallic member having one member secured to one margin of each card and arranged to extend transversely across said margin with the projections formed adjacent opposite ends of the member together with corresponding slots arranged to receive the projections on another card when the card is flexed to shorten the distance between the ends of the projections so that they will engage through the slot.

The invention further comprehends the provision of one or. more strip members attached to the margin of a card or card holder provided with a pair of oppositely extending projections and a pair of slots extending transversely of the margin 45.0f the card and having a length greater than the Width of the projection so that the projections of an adjacent card may be interengaged in the slots for slidably connecting two or more cards for relative edgewise sliding movement to 5 .ofiset one margin of said card into visible indexed relation.

The invention provides covers for the ends of a connected group of cards, one of which may be provided with an index tab to facilitate con- 55 venient operation of the connected cards to off- This invention relates to a card index of the I set their margins into visible indexed relation, the covers being provided with similar connecting parts to those carried by the cards for interengaging each card with the next card and each end card with the cover so they may be moved 5-} into offset visible indexed relation upon edgewise movement of one cover with respect to the other. The invention comprehends other features residing in the details of construction of the strip members for forming the attaching means to 10'; detachably interconnect adjacent cards, as well as provide for the mounting of the attaching means on index cards for controlling their operation in interconnected relation and other details of construction that will be more particu- 151;:

larly pointed out in the followingdescription and claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a plurality of groups of assembled cards incorporating the invention in a drawer in perspective.

Figure 2 shows one of the assembled groups of cards removed from the file drawer and operated to ofiset the cards into visible indexed relation, one cover being moved on its hinge to un- 25;. cover the adjacent card.

Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of two card holders in connected offset relation.

Figure 4 shows two card holders, the covers, and the means provided by the: invention for 3.0.1 connectingthe card holders and the covers, in perspective, and in disassembled relation, the card holders being illustrated in dot and dash lines. 1

Figure 5 shows one of the card holders and the 3'5: attaching means thereon in perspective.

Figure 6 shows two card holders in cross section with one card holder having the attaching means thereon flexed to illustrate how they are attached and detached from one another. 40

A card holder I has a marginal portion 2 hingedly connected to the card holding portion at 3, the hinge being in the form of a row of perforations, as illustrated. Corner clips 4 are mounted on the card holding portion of card holder I to provide pockets for receiving the corners of an index or record card 5.

An, attaching means is provided for each card holder or card for the purpose of providing a detachable connection between each card and its adjacent card or cards so that a series of cards may be detachably interconnected one to another to form a connected group. For this purpose, a sheet metal strip 6 is placed on one face of marginal portion 2, and at opposite ends is provided on one side edge with a pair of extensions 1 folded about the free edge of marginal portion 2 and engaged over the opposite face of said marginal portion. Extensions 1 clamp the ends of marginal portion 2 against strip 6 so as to firmly attach the strip to the card holder or card. In order to prevent the marginal portions from pulling away from the attaching means, the metal of extensions I may be punched as indicated at 8 to offset a bead portion of extensions I toward the strip 6. This will firmly bind strip 2 in the attaching means. The outer side edges of extensions 1 are provided nearer the fold portion with tongues or projections 9. The outer ends of strip 6 at a point opposite the base of tongues 9 are formed with offset sections In forming transversely extending slots II that open inwardly. Slots ll extend transversely of card margin 2 as illustrated, and are of greater length than the width of projections 9. The length of slots ii is greater than the width of projections 9 by an amount equal to the visible margin desired when the card holders and cards are moved into offset relation for visible indexing. This offsetting and the dimension of slots II and tongues 9 will provide sufficient visible margin to receive at least one line of typewritten material on the free margin of the card opposite to hinge 3. The outer ends of strip 6 beyond offset sections l6 are formed with angular outwardly extending flanges i2.

The sheet metal or other sheet material such as Celluloid or the like that may be used to form the attaching means including strip 6 is flexible so that each marginal portion of the card or card holder and the attaching member thereon may be flexed to shorten the distance between the ends of projections 9 sufliciently to engage them in slots ll of an unflexed card holder of like construction when the same is placed beside the flexed card holder as shown in Fig. 6. When two adjacent card holders are connected by interengagement of the tongues 9 on the attaching means of one in the slot of the other, the tongues 9 will be at the outer ends of the slots when the card holders are in coincident relation.

In this position a series of card holders or cards constructed as described, may be interengaged by this tongue and slot connection of the attaching means so as to form a group, and this group of cards may be arranged to stand on edge in a tray or drawer as illustrated in Fig. 1, with the marginal portions 2 and attaching members 6 at the bottom of the drawer. With index information applied to the free margin of the card -,it will be obvious that by picking up the card at one end of the connected group, and moving the same upwardly in edgewise relation, the first card will move upwardly into offset relation to its adjacent card until projections 9 reach the upper end of slot II on the adjacent card attaching means. At this point the upper margin of the first card will be visible with its index information and continued upward movement thereof will draw the next adjacent card upwardly to its limit of movement with respect to the next card adjacent to it. Continued upward movement of the first card or card holder will in turn draw all of the cards interconnected in series into upwardly offset relation and result in the upper marginal portion of each card and card holder being displayed in visible relation adjacent to one another so that all of the indexes on the offset cards are in visible relation and properly indexed when the cards are arranged in the holders in the proper order.

It is to be understood that wherever reference is made to the card holders it is to be understood to include a plain index card since an index card may be attached in the attaching means in the manner described above for interconnection of one card with another in series form without the use of a card holder and without departing from the spirit of this invention.

To facilitate handling each group of connected cards or card holders, covers i3 and M are provided for opposite ends of a connected group of cards. Cover 13 as illustrated, is provided with an index tab l5 for indexing the cards in the group. In this way each group of interconnected cards may be indexed so that ready reference may be made through means of the index characters on tab l5 for selecting the group of cards that contain the desired card and then find the desired card in the group by offsetting them into visible indexed position. The tab 15 also provides a convenient means for gripping the cover manually in order to raise it up with the card holders and through their interconnection provide the offsetting of the visible margins into visible index relation. Each cover is secured to the end card of the interconnected series.

For the purpose of securing cover [3 to the end card at one end of the series, cover i3 is provided with a pair of spaced cylindrical portions I6 for receiving a hinge pin i'l extending at its outer ends into hinge knuckles IS on connecting plate 19. Connecting plate I9 is provided with a pair of oppositely extending projections 20 on the free edge thereof and the plate is made of flexible material so that it may be flexed to shorten the distance between the ends of projections 20 so they will engage in the free slots ll of the attaching member at one end of the connected card series.

The projections 9 on the attaching member at the opposite end of the connected card series that are not engaged in slots are used to connect the other cover I4 to the opposite end of the card series through engagement in slots 2| of strip member 22 similar to strip 6 in construction. Extensions 23 on opposite ends of strip 22, similar to projections 1, are formed to provide hinge knuckles 24 adjacent the portion connected with strip 22 to receive hinge pin 25 engaging in hinge members 26 carried by cover M. The covers may be attached and detached from the card attaching members or means in the same manner as one card is attached to another, that is, plate !9 is flexed in the same manner as strip 6 to engage projections 20 into the slots H of one card attaching member while the other end card attaching member of a series is flexed to engage projections 9 and slots 2| of strip 22 carried by the other cover M.

Since both covers are hinged with respect to the attaching means securing them to the card margins at opposite end of the series, the covers may be moved away from the adjacent cards and card holders so as to disclose the record information on the face of the cards carried by the card holder.

When a series of assembled units with covers are inserted in a drawer they stand on edge in the manner shown in Fig. 1, and cover l3 will be disposed at the forward end of the group with the indexed information on the outer or forward face of the tab, This arrangement provides for the upward withdrawal of a cover [3 by gripping the tab l5 which will offset all of the card holders with respect to one another to bring the indexes into visible indexed relation. When this condition is reached the entire group of cards and card holders with the covers are withdrawn from its position standing on end in the file and laid upon the top of the other unit in the drawer or file in the oifset relation so that the indexes are visible. In this position the rear or top cover i4 may be moved rearwardly upon its hinge to expose the record upon the face of the adjacent card and by lifting the card holders above any desired one, the information on any card may be inspected. After this unit has been used for the desired information, it may then be lifted up into a vertical position and allowed to drop into its position between the next-adjacent groups of connected cards, the adjacent groups being held apart until the connected series of cards is replaced in position standing on edge. It is, of course to be understood that these card units may be connected and used in any other desired manner such as providing connections between groups of cards to form a connected booklet to carry about in the pocket, briefcase or the like. It will be further understood that units of cards may be interconnected in groups without the use of the covers and that cards may be used in place of card holders with or without hinged marginal portions to which the attaching means is secured.

With a construction as shown and described any card may be removed from the series quickly and conveniently by flexing all of the cards on one side thereof to detach them from the desired card by disengaging the projections 9 from slots H and then the desired card may be disengaged from the remaining card of the series and the group reassembled by the flexing operation to engage the tongues on one attaching member in the slots of the next.

The invention claimed is:

1. A card index, comprising a plurality of cards,

' sheet metal strips on a margin of each card having folded sections engaged over opposite faces of said margin, the strip sections on one face of I each card being formed to 'provide oppositely extending projections, the opposite strip sections of. each card being formed to provide slots, the projections on one card slidably engaging in the slots of an adjacent card for interconnecting a series of cards, whereby upon manipulation of an end card, all the cards will be oifset relative to one another to provide a visible margin on each card in visible index relation.

2. A card index, comprising a plurality of cards, each card having sheet metal strip sections folded about a margin thereof in spaced relation, said strip sections on one side of said margin being formed to provide oppositely extending tongues, and the strip sections on the other face of said margin being formed to provide slots of greater length than the width of said tongues, these slots on one card detachably receiving the tongues of an adjacent card for cooperation to slidably interconnect said cards for relative movement into offset relation with a corresponding margin of each card in visible index relation.

3. A card index, comprising a plurality of cards, a pair of folded sheet material strip sections for each card embracing one margin of the card with the folds at the edge of said margin and the portions at opposite sides of the fold engaged, one over each face of said margin, the portions of said pair of sections on one side of said card being formed to provide attaching tongues extending in opposite direction along said margin, and the opposite portions of said sections being formed to provide a slot in each section extending transversely relative to said margin longer than the width of said tongues and spaced apart in parallel relation a distance approximating that between the base portions of said tongues, whereby one card may be flexed to engage the tongues thereon in the slots of another card to attach said cards in superposed relation for limited relative sliding movement to offset the opposite marginal portions of said cards in visible index relation.

, 4. A card index, comprising a plurality of cards, a sheet material strip for each card engaged on one side of one margin of said card, a pair of spaced extensions on one edge of said strip folded about the edge of said card and upon the opposite side of said margin and being formed to firmly grip the margin of said card in between said strip and extensions to secure said strip on said card, transverse slots formed at opposite ends in said strip, projections of less width than the length of said slots formed on said extensions and projecting in opposite directions therefrom along said margin, said projectionsbeing adapted to engage in the slots of the strip carried by an adjacent card for interconnecting said cards for limited relative movement to provide for the relative offsetting of a series of interconnected cards by pulling the end card into an offset position for exposing marginal portions on all of said cards in visible index relation.

5. A card index, comprising a plurality of cards, each card having sheet metal strip sections folded about a margin thereof in spaced relation, one end of each strip section extending beyond the end of said card margin leaving a space between opposite portions of each section beyond the ends of said margin, said strip sections on one side of said margin being formed to provide oppositely extending tongues, and the strip sections on the other face of said margin being formed to provide slots of greater length than the width of said tongues, said tongues and slots being formed in the portions of said strip sections beyond the ends of the card'margin, these slots on one card detachably receiving the tongues of an adjacentcard for cooperation to slidably interconnect said cards for relative movement into offset relation with a corresponding margin of each card in visible index relation.

CHARLES W. SHERMAN. 

